"We're all entitled to our religious beliefs, right?...But we can't make policies based on religion when religion means different things to different people. Which leaves science. The science of reproduction is what it is. Conception is conception. You can decide the ethical value that has for you, based on your own relationship with God...but the policies around basic human rights with regard to reproduction shouldn't be up for interpretation."
-Dr. Louie Ward, from the novel
I can't recall that I have ever read one of Picoult's novels that wasn't a page turner. This one was so much so I could hardly put it down! I will just go ahead and rate it a 5.
The story begins in an abortion center at 5 PM on a given day when a pro-life extremist has killed two people and is holding several hostages at gunpoint. Hugh McElroy, the police hostage negotiator, is doing his best to convince the gunman to release the hostages. The situation has become extremely compelling for Hugh after finding out his teenage daughter and aunt are two being held.
The narrative is unusual in its structure as it goes backward in time---all the way back to 8 AM---to gradually reveal what has happened up to that point and allow the reader to discover what brought each of these victims to this point. (This reminded me of Nineteen Minutes, another novel by this author which is just as compelling.) One is the doctor, another is a nurse who has come for an abortion and ends up helping the injured. Joy is a young woman who has just had an abortion, Olive is an older woman who needs consultation, and Janine has more than one secret which I will not tell. Aunt Bex has accompanied Hugh's daughter, Wren, but I'll let you find out the reason. Little by little, we learn the story of George Goddard, a domestic terrorist, the way I see it.
The book is fiction but it is obvious from the extensive bibliography and the Author's Note that
Ms. Picoult thoroughly researched the topic of abortion. She interviewed women who had experienced the procedure and pro-life proponents. She shadowed a doctor and even observed three abortions. I believe the author worked hard to make the novel believable, to show both sides of a complicated issue and to tell a thought-provoking and engrossing story. I highly recommend it!
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